January
18, 1990
Navy
plans to mothball Iowa, New Jersey
WASHINGTON
(AP) - The Navy plans to mothball the damaged battleship Iowa,
after repairing it, and its sister ship New Jersey to save money,
a Defense Department official said last night.
The plan would leave the Navy with only two
of its current four active battleships.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said, "It's as good as done."
But he conceded that political pressure from
New York City, where the Navy had planned to base the Iowa, could
cause another ship to "be thrown into the pot" to replace
that one at the new base there, now about 70 percent complete.
It had been known previously the Navy would
seek to mothball two battleships, but it had not been known which
two would be chosen.
|
